Frank Baumann says Werder have "15 to 20" transfers to complete, Clemens Fritz moves to sidelines
SV Werder Bremen released a digital media press junket on its website on Saturday. In one of the published interviews, managing director Frank Baumann reveals that he still anticipates "15 to 20 transfers" before the current window closes on August 31st.
In other news, the club announced that former club mainstay Clemens Fritz would move out of the front office and onto the sidelines.
Frank Baumann still expects a total of "15 to 20" personnel changes over the next six weeks as the recently relegated SV Werder Bremen continue to adjust their player roster for the lower league. The basic matter of 2. Bundesliga licensing requirements being satisfied via the sale of Milot Rashica to Norwich City, the club must still reduce payroll by selling off players with higher weekly stipends and bringing in more manageable salaries.
In other news, the club announced that former club mainstay Clemens Fritz would move out of the front office and onto the sidelines.
As outlined in our recent preview article, the Hanseaten have already been quite active on the transfer market. Baumann reminded the club faithful that the work remains far from finished in his interview. The figure of "15 to 20" was intended to convey a cumulative total of changes, with--as per Baumann--"departures being significantly higher".
One can tacitly assume that the north German club will continue to actively shop high value players such as striker Josh Sargent (€8 million), Ludwig Augustinsson (€10 million), and Marco Friedl (€7.5 million). This particular trio have been linked with buyers, though the rumor mills have run dry in all three cases.
Bremen's roster still contains nine other actors valued at €1 million or higher; all of which could be considered fair game for a sale in the proper context. A general--though certainly not ironclad--rule of thumb sees 2. Bundesliga sides limit themselves to a maximum of five blue-chip players when managing second-division payroll.
In a rather interesting development on the club's administrative side, it was announced that former Bremen professional Clemens Fritz will transition out of his role as the head of scouting and player development to a position "closer to the team". Details were somewhat vague, but it was emphasized that Fritz would "take on more responsibilities in the day-to-day operations of the team."
Fritz spent the bulk of his 18-year-playing career with Bremen after stints with Erfurt, Karlsruhe and Leverkusen. The details given suggest that the club envisions Fritz as a player liaison with an aim toward transitioning him toward an assistant coaching track.
Clemens #Fritz wird ab sofort noch näher an die Mannschaft heranrücken. Das ist ein Ergebnis der neuen Aufgabenverteilung zwischen ihm und Frank #Baumann.⬇️https://t.co/6r206LUsjc#Werder
— SV Werder Bremen (@werderbremen) July 17, 2021